NSW continues to attract more international visitors than any other state in Australia, with 3.6 million overseas visitors spending nearly $9 billion in NSW in the last year.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres has welcomed the figures from Tourism Research Australia’s, International Visitor Survey showing NSW leading the nation, achieving phenomenal growth in international visitors.

“This is fantastic news for our tourism industry with important flow-on effects for the NSW economy, instilling business confidence, encouraging investment and generating jobs and growth for our state,” Mr Ayres said.

“NSW achieved a significant increase in international visitors to 3.6 million (up 8.9 per cent), number of nights stayed rose to 86.9 million (up 10.5 per cent).

“The NSW visitor economy is thriving. Not only has NSW received a record $8.96 billion in international visitor spend, expenditure has grown by a record 20 per cent, showing our hard work is paying huge dividends. Visitors from China spent $2.6 billion, continuing incredible growth in this target market.

“NSW’s lead over Victoria and Queensland as a tourism destination is increasing. With our state exceeding Victoria by more than 1 million visitors and $2.2 billion in expenditure, and we’re ahead of Queensland by 1.1 million visitors and $3.9 billion, Mr Ayres concluded.

The number of international visitors to Regional NSW again rose significantly with 712,800 visitors (up 8.9 per cent) staying 13.8 million nights (a rise of 12.5 per cent) and spending over $900 million (up 20 per cent).

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said, “NSW has delivered a world-class calendar of events in the past year, from the spectacular production of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour to the Tamworth Country Music Festival in Regional NSW, and these fantastic figures reflect our hard work and strategic marketing campaigns to make NSW the most compelling destination in Australia.”